Murder story of Ternovka Jews in the Antonovka Forest

On May 27, 1942, a group of SS men who had come especially to the area carried out a mass murder operation in the Ternovka ghetto, with the collaboration of Ukrainian police. Early in the morning, at 4 am, the SS men began to knock on the doors of the Jewish houses, shouting, “Ofnen, Ofnen!” Every Jew in the ghetto was taken from their home and brought to the forest. There were terrible shouts and cries. Elderly Jews wore their tallit (prayer shawl) and prayed. One young teacher began to rip her dress and shout that they were being led to their deaths. An old blacksmith shouted in Yiddish, “Jews, I have lived my life!” He snatched a rifle from the hands of a German soldier, but because he did not know how to operate it, used it as a hammer and beat the soldier to death. Other SS men shot him and the teacher to death. At the pits, the SS men killed the Jews by machine gun. Many of the victims who fell injured into the pits were buried alive. On the first day of the operation, SS men carried out the murders. The following day, local policemen found and brought out 45 hidden Jews. Since the SS had already left, Ghetto Commandant Emil himself killed them by machine gun. In addition to the mass murder in the area, the mob also pillaged the Jewish houses left open when their occupants were taken away. The local population – the Ukrainians – used this opportunity to satisfy their desires.

Suddenly, on May 27, 1942, a punitive unit arrived. They encircled the settlement: our house was at the end, close to the road from Dzhulinka. It was already morning. We were all expelled – my mother, the children, myself, everybody – the sick, the elderly – and driven to nobody knew where. We had been told that a pit had been dug in the forest, but nobody believed it. Nobody managed to take anything, as we thought we would be brought to the camp. Instead, we were brought to the forest. Then I knew that was it. We were driven to the pit and ordered to separate, women from men, and the tragedy began… Just before, the commandant’s assistant read out a list of different professionals that would be allowed to live. Out of 54 people, only seven remained. I was not on the list. If no, then no, what could I do? I said a farewell; let it be whatever it is. Suddenly the commandant said: “I need one more plumber and a smith.” The punitive unit’s head said to him, “Choose.” And he pointed at me and the smith. The smith began to drag his son with him, but he said, “No.” We were sat down about 100 meters from the pit (nine people in all), with two policemen standing next to us. And the tragedy began. While the men were being shot, nothing was heard, only the sound of cannonade and the burst of a sub-machinegun; but when it was the women’s turn, then ... it was a tragedy… I managed to say farewell to my mother, and to my sisters – they were young: one was 19, the other 17, my brother was 12, my younger sisters were 5 and 6, and my grandfather was 78, he was brought there in a cart and simply thrown into the pit. We were there until the end. Those who hid themselves were also brought there... They were also shot and thrown into the pit. Then the commandant came and apologized that we should have been brought directly to his office. After the annihilation of 2,500 Jews, we, nine people, were taken to the commandant’s office from where we were supposed to go to a camp. Kravets, a Jew, a watchmaker, who had studied in Germany and knew German, said it would have been better had they killed us rather than sent us to a camp. He went to the commandant who ordered them to leave us here, in the ghetto…. I stayed in Ternovka for two more months and tried get over the Bug to this side. We were not forced to work, but I was in such a bad state I was unable to work. So many years have passed, but I still do not understand how I managed to get through it. And is it possible to get through it? You think: everybody was shot there. The peasants say that the soil breathed for two weeks. This is it. There was a tribunal after the war. All the police officers, the interpreter who was shooting there, and the commandant’s assistant were found and caught by our counter intelligence. There was a confrontation in Vinnitsa. Only two shoemakers and I were still alive. We were present at the confrontation with these criminals, these fascists. They were sentenced to death.